For maternity, I think we get 6wks ... unpaid. Paternity is nothing, except there are some vague provisions under the Family Medical Leave Act. But again, it's unpaid.

Because my son was born premature, my wife took 9wks, again unpaid. And her boss was all over her pressuring her to come back to work or be fired. Which isn't legal, but the burden would be on her to get a lawyer and go after him. He was a dick though, so the minute we didn't need her healthcare to cover the medical expenses of my son, she quit.

I have always found that, with some exceptions in certain States, US employment law is pretty harsh from the perspective of the employee.

Note though that here, as in the US, maternity/paternity issues are local (Provincial). Right now Quebec has the most generous system-which has resulted in a mini baby boom. Now if we can keep up the baby boom thing, maybe we have an answer as to who will keep the system going for the next generation.